Asked about the prospect of raising tariffs on Chinese goods even further to pressure Beijing into negotiations, President Trump said the current 125% levy is already a “significant number,” and he can’t imagine increasing it any more.

“I can’t imagine it. I don’t think I’ll have to do it,” Trump told journalists in the Oval Office. “I don’t think we’ll have to go higher – you know, we calculated it very carefully.”

Asked whether certain American importers could be granted exemptions during the 90-day period, Trump said the administration would evaluate requests on a case-by-case basis. “Some [companies] get hit a little bit harder, and we’ll take a look at that – just instinctively, more than anything else,” he said. “You almost can’t take a pencil to paper. It’s really more of an instinct.”